Mr.arrogant(29)

Jonathon dropped his head and closed his eyes, unable to face the man  who had singlehandedly destroyed his every happiness and his life in one  deft move. He swallowed hard and held back the bitterness in him that  threatened to surface. He knew that if it did surface, he would regret  his words and his actions, and they might cost him everything.         

     



 

Without saying a word, he picked up the little baby blue box on the desk  and snapped the lid shut on it, tucking it into his jacket pocket. He  turned away from his father and squared his shoulders, lifting his chin  with what little remnants of dignity that he had left in him, and then  he began to walk toward the door of his father's office.

"Jonathon." His father called out to him. "Not so fast." He said coolly. "You have guests in the executive lounge next door."

Two hours later, every employee in the company was gathered in the great  foyer of the skyscraper, and none of them knew what they were there  for. Marble floors and walls glowed with lights and beamed elegance  everywhere. There was a dual staircase at the far end of the foyer; two  matching sets of stairs that went up adjacent to one another, connecting  at their pinnacle and creating a landing with a beautifully carved  marble barrister all along the edge of it.

The massive crowd of employees knew that there was about to be a big  announcement, as they could see a few people working on a microphone and  sound system on the landing at the top of the staircase. Two huge  arrangements of white flowers were brought in and set on either end of  the barrister, giving an air of natural beauty to the cold hard stone.

Naomi stood near the base of the stairs, looking curiously at the people  milling and talking all around her. Several of them had come to her to  ask her what it was that was happening, and what might be being  announced, but she had to tell them that she had no idea what it might  be, and she was just as in the dark about the situation as any of the  rest of them were.

A staff of waiters was walking through the crowd passing out champagne  to everyone who wanted it. One waiter came to Naomi and offered her a  flute of it with a smile, and she took it from him and held it, looking  at the tiny golden bubbles as they rose jubilantly to the surface.

She knew that it must be big news to go to all of the fuss that was  happening around her. She hadn't been with the company long, but she had  heard other employees who had been there for decades mentioning that  they had never seen an undertaking such as they were experiencing that  afternoon.

She looked around for Jonathon, wondering where he was and if he was  still talking with his father. They were exceedingly careful about their  interactions together in public, especially in front of anyone with the  company, but she was his assistant, and it would not seem out of place  for her to have been at his side during whatever announcement was about  to take place.

She checked her phone and saw no message there or in her email.  Frowning, she put her phone back in her pocket and looked around the  room again. It was a fair bet that everyone who worked for the company  in any capacity was there that afternoon. As she gazed at all of the  people gathered, she wondered why there hadn't been an earlier  announcement about the event.

It was a huge undertaking in almost no time at all. Every employee had  been hard at work when word came down from Phillip Cross himself that  every employee was to gather in the foyer that very afternoon for an  announcement. It was sudden and unexplained, and the mystery had made  most of the crowd excited, though some of them were anxious and worried.

Naomi searched for Jonathon, eyeing the elevators and doors, waiting for  him to arrive, but there was no sign of him. She frowned, hoping he  would make it down before everything started. Thinking that she would  see him at any moment, she stopped one of the waiters and got a second  glass of champagne to give to Jonathon when he arrived. She knew that he  would go straight to her, and they would listen to the announcement  together.

The hum of conversation seemed to grow louder until at last Phillip  Cross walked out from one of the doors set at the ends of the landing.  He waved and smiled as he made his way to the microphone. At his side  was Vincent Grayson.

Naomi frowned at the sight of Vincent. She wondered what he was doing  there. She knew that the two old men were best friends, but Vincent did  not have his hands in Cross Corp, and he ought not to have been present  for a business announcement.

The two men reached the microphone and Phillip took it in his hand.

"Hello to all of you, and good afternoon!" he said with a broad grin.  Naomi lowered one brow as she studied him. She had never seen him smile  so genuinely before. She glanced around her furtively for a sign of  Jonathon, but she could not see him anywhere and she hoped that he  hadn't gotten trapped at the back of the room, unable to get to her.         

     



 

"Thank you all for taking a much deserved break from your busy days! I  have an announcement to share with you that brings my heart, and the  heart of my dear friend Vincent Grayson here, great joy, and we are so  pleased to be able to share it with you." He nodded and smiled, as did  Vincent, and two waiters appeared at their sides and handed each of them  a glass of champagne.

Phillip took the glass and then looked back at the sea of employees  before him. "Does everyone have champagne? Good." He nodded and smiled  again. "This is the happiest announcement that this company has ever  made, and it is my honor to have all of you present here for it. It is a  red letter day, and one that will not be matched for a long time to  come."

Naomi looked around her again, beginning to worry about where Jonathon  was. Her eyes searched through the endless array of heads surrounding  her, but there was no sign of him. She sighed in frustration and looked  back up at Phillip and Vincent.

"Friends and colleagues, it is our absolute delight and privilege to  introduce to you two people who mean the whole world to us. Please  welcome our very own Jonathon Cross and Miss Susan Grayson." He said  grandly as he turned toward the door he had come through minutes before,  lifting his hand in an act of presentation.

Naomi's heart pounded in her as her blood began to race. She looked up  at the door and saw Jonathon as he walked through it, and at his side,  with her arm linked possessively through his, was Susan Grayson. Naomi  froze and stared at them, everything in her coming to a halt. She could  not think or breathe as she watched from the floor, her fingers curled  around the two champagne flutes. The only thing in her that was moving  at the rate of a hummingbird, was her heart.

Phillip pushed the microphone back into the stand before them and then  turned to face his son and the chubby redhead who was hanging off of  him. Naomi felt her stomach tighten nauseatingly.

Jonathon looked at his father and his father narrowed his gaze and  lifted his chin. With a sigh and an expression of solemnity, Jonathon  turned toward a blissfully happy Susan. She stared up at him with her  adoring green eyes, the smile on her face reaching from ear to ear.

He sighed heavily and leaned toward the microphone, and then he pulled a  little baby blue box out of his jacket pocket, opened it up, and  presented it to her. "Susan Grayson, will you marry me?" he asked in a  strained voice.

There was total silence in the room, and Naomi's mouth fell full open. She could not believe what she was seeing.

Susan reached for the ring and took it, sliding it onto her finger, and  then she leaned up and kissed Jonathon full on the lips. She grinned and  said a little too loudly, "Yes! Jonathon Cross, I will marry you!"

In the split second after Susan said yes, Naomi could not feel any part  of her body, and without realizing it, her grip on the two champagne  flutes failed, and both of them fell silently to the marble floor at  Naomi's feet, shattering as champagne sprayed all around her, just as  the crowd of people erupted in applause and cheers.

Jonathon heard the sound of the shattering glass in the split second  before the chaos of the crowd before them, and he turned sharply to see  what had caused the noise. His eyes met with Naomi's and agony filled  them. His heart felt as if it had been ripped out of his chest as he saw  the deep pain, confusion, and torment etched across her lovely face. He  wanted more than anything to run to her at that moment and comfort her,  to tell her that it was all a lie, but he was locked into the place he  stood by manipulation and duty; more than anything, duty to her, and she  would never know it.

Naomi's eyes held his for a long moment as the feeling slowly came back  in to her body and mind, and a white hot pain shot through every part of  her heart, and then stretched out through every fiber in her body.  Waiters rushed to her feet to scoop up the shattered champagne glasses  and mop up the fallen golden bubbles.